Adapting to different cultures when working abroad

I had a request from a reader to write a post on tips on how to adapt to a new culture after you move abroad and today’s post is on that topic.

A few years ago, I was working in the UK for a company that had dismantled a large joint venture and directly acquired some of its operating companies across the world. Our ultimate parent company at the time was highly acquisitive and had a blueprint for rolling out processes, practices, procedures and training to new companies it acquired. It took the same approach with this acquisition with predictably varying results. The parent company was American, the approach worked pretty well in the UK and became more challenging the further it radiated East. It wasn’t the geographical distance that was making things challenging it was the clash between the approach and the cultural norms in each location. These cultural norms were supported by labor laws, business practices, hierarchies and nuances in language that formed the fabric of each society and created locally understood trading environments. Culture and common practices are usually remarkably stable and often prevail against external challenges, particularly in the short-term. Cultural practices emerge through evolution rather than revolution, and whereas you will find McDonalds and Starbucks in most corners of the world, any tourist will confirm that New York, London, Paris, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Moscow, South Africa, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney all look and feel very different. Therefore, if we move abroad, it is necessary that we adapt to local culture, rather than assuming that new colleagues and friends will adapt to us.

An amusing story from this time involved our newly acquired office in Russia. Given the geopolitical tensions with Russia, doing business there is not straightforward. But back in the 2000s it was easier than it is today. The Russian CFO did not speak English and had a translator on staff to help. This wasn’t a new development as the entity had previously reported into the London HQ of the joint venture. In meetings the discussions took longer than normal as the translator would translate what was being said to the CFO and then, if necessary, feedback her response. The response was usually suspiciously vague. One summer, about a year after the acquisition, we hired a Finance intern in London who originated from Russia and spoke Russian. During a team meeting the intern started laughing. When asked what was funny, she informed those present that the translator didn’t understand any of the financial terms and much of what was being said. She was having a separate conversation with the CFO about their evening plans and the CFO was happy to ignore whatever the team in London was saying. The changes were swift with a new CFO brought in that spoke English.

In Japan the same company hired a succession of leaders, some local hires and some transplants from the US, to try and understand what was happening in the local business and improve the margins on a business that wasn’t performing. In this territory the issue could be simply expressed as a lack of trust. Anyone trusted by London would struggle to establish trust with the local team and therefore be unable to make a meaningful impact. Anyone that established trust with the local team would need to do so by not overtly pushing the requirements from London. As such they would be trusted locally and not trusted to make the changes required by Head Office. This situation had not improved by the time I had left.

Reverting back to the question on tips I have for working with different cultures whilst living abroad. We know that our presence will not change the local culture in any way. This leaves us with one real option, which is to embrace the culture as fully as possible. Spend time getting to understand it and more importantly appreciating the benefits of it. As I mentioned earlier, cultural norms provide a basis for communities to live, govern and trade with each other. From an outsider’s point of view, they may seem strange at first, but they didn’t develop in isolation, and they normally solve for a problem in a way that has general acceptance. The more you understand the culture, the more you can overlay your own goals and objectives and establish the best way to pursue them. In some cases, you may find alternative objectives that you wouldn’t have considered at home. By adapting to the local culture, you change yourself in the process and make the most of your experience of working abroad.

If there was to be a hierarchy of cultures based on their prevalence and impact on residents, it would probably start at national level, then reflect regional differences and finally reflect family, workplace and association nuances. If a country is less than two hundred years old and was formed from combining different autonomous regions together (i.e. Germany and Italy) then the hierarchy may flip with regional cultural norms being more prevalent than national cultural norms. Why is this important? It means that when you join a workplace in a foreign country you will be adapting to the national culture, as interpreted regionally and combined with your employer’s culture. In some areas a city or town can be dominated by one employer or a particular industry such that the culture of that business influences the regional culture (an example could be the tech industry in Silicon Valley or the fishing industry in various coastal towns). In every case you aren’t adapting to a single monolithic culture, but a richer more varied tapestry. When I thought about it, I realized that I have never worked for a company in its home market. Whilst I was in the UK I worked for American companies, and now in the US I work for a British company. As a local hire in each country I have worked in, there is an added responsibility to represent and promote the local business back to the corporate center and to become a bridge to encourage understanding and knowledge. I strongly favor companies that avoid one-size fits all strategies and instead focus on their capabilities and strengths in each market and use these to grow their businesses and perform to their maximum potential.

Next week I am travelling on business back to Singapore. I can’t wait to see the city again as its been eight years since I lived there. Whilst there I am attending and speaking at the AVIA OTT conference. I submitted an article for their conference journal and in a bit of a change up to my normal subject matter, I will republish it here on my blog. For everyone in America, or who is American and living abroad, have a very happy Thanksgiving! For everyone else, enjoy the culturally ubiquitous Black Friday sales.